Sunday, December 18, 2011

Book Review: Behind the Veils of Yemen

Because of Sonlight Curriculum, I have read a lot of missionary biographies. I'm always inspired by some of the "greats" -- you know, the ones thanking God for the wonderful meal they are about to eat even when there is no food in the house, where right as this faith-filled person says, "Amen" there is a knock at the door and food arrives in some miraculous fashion. I want to be like that.

But my favorites are the people who seem more real -- more like me. The ones who struggle with their faith even as they are out in the mission field. Because "struggle" and "doubt" are where I live. One minute, I'm pretty sure that I'm doing what God would have me do at this time... the next minute, I'm questioning my purpose. The next, I'm seeing God's clear answer to prayer in a bag of cheddar cheese. The next, I'm questioning how I can ever be sure that I believe what I believe.

Audra Grace Shelby and her family served in Yemen... and she is as real as they come. Aside from her name, which was changed to protect the people she knew in Yemen and the missionaries still serving there. In Behind the Veils of Yemen, she shares her spiritual highs and lows. She shares the lessons she learned, and the answers to her prayers. She shares her doubts and her fears. And she shares the lives she glimpsed in Yemen.

From the publisher:

With only prayer and a faith that always seemed too small, Audra Grace Shelby departed with her family on a one-way flight deep into the heart of conservative Islam. Here she recounts her harrowing journey as a Christian woman thrust into a culture dangerously different from her own. From the friendships she forged, to her gnawing doubt and fear, to her offers of hope when her friends' religion failed them, she gives us glimpses into a world most have never seen. And she shows how the grace of God transforms lives--even in the midst of an Islamic stronghold.

This is a book I think everyone ought to read. I plan to add it to my kids' high school curriculum. My boys aren't likely to be excited about it... but I think once they get a few chapters in, they will be hooked. See for yourself with this excerpt: